Small Town Flying

One of the best parts about living abroad is the added incentive to leave the city where you reside and travel on the weekends to get to know the surrounding country. (In Mexico, we call this puebleando, or visiting small towns with no specific plan in mind.) I have been to many of the small towns around Mexico City, which offer a peaceful respite from the hectic, smoggy urban life. Plus they are usually full of interesting people, great food, beautiful artisania and pretty views. In one tiny town I saw an old drunk cowboy stumbling around the main plaza brandishing an antique-looking pistol! Funny, yet scary. And some little towns have the most amazing old cathedrals and plazas … one had a church decorated with little pink and purple painted flowers everywhere, so we properly christened it the “Barbie Church.”

I shot this picture on our recent trip puebleando. This dude was so photogenic I couldn’t resist a photo …. your typical small town guy, chillin’ with his can of coke and cowboy get-up, with his buddy looking too cool for school at his side. Gotta love small town life! On the weekend everyone went cruising down the main street in their pimped-out Beatles and Datsuns, just like any small town in the US – funny how people share so many characteristics, no matter where they live!

A few weekends back I took advantage of the long weekend and headed to a small town called Valle de Bravo. This is a little resort town on a lake, which we found out is actually man-made — a reservoir, that is just a couple hours drive from Mexico City. For some reason this is one of the few near-by towns that I had never been to. It is particularly known for the large amount of outdoor sports you can do, including paragliding!

Ready to jump!

Feeling adventurous, D and I decided to try our hand at sailing above the earth for a bit. And it was marvelous!

Sailing in heaven

The jumping off the cliff was a little scary, but once you are in the air, it is smooth sailing and so peaceful and relaxing. It helped that it was a beautiful sunny day with amazing views, as well. I hope to go again, or perhaps even learn how to go on my own! (This time we went with a guide that took care of “driving” and all the technical/safety stuff.)